"In the future, citations may be under our local ordinance," Soriano said.

He said the new language in the ordinance under "Dangerous Dogs" was lifted verbatim from state law, which gives a district judge the power to charge the owner of such an animal with a summary offense if the dog is found to have:

•Inflicted severe injury on a human being without provocation on public or private property;

•Killed or inflicted severe injury on a domestic animal … without provocation while off the owner's property;

•Attacked a human being without provocation;

•Or been used in the commission of a crime.

Such a determination can also be reached if a dog has a history of attacking humans or domestic animals without provocation.

Violators will be charged with a summary offense and fined not less than $500.

Soriano said the revision came about, in part, as a result of a Feb. 4 incident in which a male pit bull owned by an Allentown man mauled a smaller dog and injured two people on Pearl Avenue. The animal later turned on police and was shot dead.

The owner was charged with a summary offense when it was determined the animal, along with a female pit bull he also owned, got free accidentally.

"It was a reaction to some of that," Soriano said of the new ordinance, adding that the owner of the cockapoo that was attacked should have called the state dog warden rather than the police or animal control officer.

"Now we have that standard in our ordinance," he said.

The township, he added, "doesn't get a lot of complaints about stray dogs, but a lot of complaints about vicious dogs."

Police Chief Allen Stiles said his department has received "perhaps five calls in the past year" regarding aggressive dogs, but that "in two incidents people were actually attacked by dogs."

The ordinance empowers the township animal control officer to work with law enforcement to seize stray dogs and place them in an animal shelter such as the Humane Society until the animal is claimed. Violators can face fines up to $300 and 90 days in jail.